Emmanuel Goldstein

Emmanuel Goldstein is a key character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four.

Related Topics:
George Orwell's - Novel - Nineteen Eighty-Four

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In the novel Goldstein is rumored to be a former top member of the ruling (and sole) Party who had broken away early in the movement and started an organization known as "The Brotherhood", dedicated to the fall of The Party. However, in the course of the novel, we learn that we will never know whether either "The Brotherhood" or Goldstein himself actually ever existed, even though we are led to believe that neither Goldstein, the "Brotherhood" nor "Big Brother" exist outside of suggestion.

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Each member of "The Brotherhood" is required to read a book supposedly written by Goldstein, The Theory and Practice of Oligarchical Collectivism (see: Goldstein's book). Each person is said to have 3 or 4 contacts at one time which are replaced as people disappear, so that if a member is captured, he can only give up 3 or 4 others. Goldstein is always the subject of the "Two Minutes Hate," a daily, 2-minute period beginning at 11:00 am at which some image of Goldstein is shown on the telescreen (a one-channel television with surveillance devices in it). It is thought that the opposition to Big Brother – namely, Goldstein – was simply a construction, which ensured that support and devotion towards Big Brother was continuous. It is never revealed whether this is true.

Related Topics:
Goldstein's book - Two Minutes Hate - Telescreen - Television - Surveillance - Big Brother

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The character of Goldstein is considered to be modeled after Leon Trotsky (pen name of Lev Davidovich Bronstein), who had similar ideas regarding the regime of Joseph Stalin, whose banishment from the Soviet Union had a similar timeline, and whose appearance was similar to the description of the image of Goldstein in the novel. Far more significantly, however, Goldstein represents the bogeyman used by all regimes to represent the "them" who are against "us". The character's name could be a reference to religion, which is banned in the world of Nineteen Eighty-Four; "Emmanuel" being a name used for Jesus, and "Goldstein" being a typically Jewish surname. Alternatively, it could be derived from the name of Emma Goldman, a libertarian socialist whom Orwell greatly admired.

Related Topics:
Leon Trotsky - Pen name - Joseph Stalin - Soviet Union - Bogeyman - Nineteen Eighty-Four - Jesus - Jewish - Emma Goldman - Libertarian socialist

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